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#Iran seized oil tanker for hours in international waters, US says

#Iran seized oil tanker for hours in international waters, US says

August 13, 2020 | 12:43pm

Iranian troops swooped down from a navy chopper onto a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in international waters in the Gulf of Oman, taking over the vessel for several hours amid mounting tensions between Tehran and Washington, a US military official said Thursday.

The US Central Command published black-and-white footage showing what appeared to be special forces fast-roping down from a Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King — which only Iran’s navy operates — onto the MT Wila on Wednesday.

“Today in international waters, Iranian forces, including two ships and an Iranian ‘Sea King’ helicopter, overtook and boarded a ship called the ‘Wila,’” the military command said in a tweet.

The oil and chemical tanker’s last position appeared to be off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates near the city of Khor Fakkan, according to Refinitiv tracking data.

A US defense official told Agence France-Presse that the Iranians released the ship after holding it for four to five hours about 20 miles off the Strait of Hormuz.

“A coalition ship monitored the event but did not receive a distress call from M/T Wila,” the official told the news outlet.

An American official told Reuters that the US military was not involved in anything other than monitoring the situation, during which the Wila made no distress calls.

US military officials did not offer any reason for Iran seizing the ship. Iranian state media and officials did not acknowledge the seizure or provide a reason for it.

Officials in the UAE, a US-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms, did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

The Wila’s registered owner is a Liberian firm called Bandit Shipping Co., which is managed by the Greek company IMS SA, according to United Nations records.

Bandit Shipping could not be reached, while IMS did not respond to requests for comment by the news service.

As tensions between Tehran and Washington heated up last year over the unilateral withdrawal by the US from its 2015 nuclear deal, tankers moving through the region’s waters became targets, particularly near the strait, the Persian Gulf’s narrow mouth.

The US blamed Iran for suspected limpet mine attacks on several tankers. Tehran denied being involved, though the Islamic Republic did seize several tankers.

In July 2019, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero for allegedly ramming a fishing boat and released it two months later.

The Guards seized at least six other vessels last year over alleged fuel smuggling.

With Post wires

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